Poland's 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites
Poland has 17 sites on the World Heritage List, from historic centres rebuilt after the war to salt mines, from wooden churches to the Białowieża Forest. Here they all are on the map, with the year of inscription and the places in our guides where you can go and see them.
Sites made up of several parts have a dot for each of the main parts, all with the same number.
By region
In order of inscription
- 1
Historic Centre of Kraków
1978 · Lesser Poland
The old capital of the kings of Poland: the Main Market Square with the Cloth Hall, Wawel Hill with its castle and cathedral, and the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz.
Kraków, the Old Town in the guide → Wawel Hill in the guide → Kazimierz in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 2
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
1978 · Lesser Poland
Galleries and chapels carved into the salt over seven centuries, together with the Saltworks Castle: one of the oldest mining enterprises in Europe.
Wieliczka Salt Mine in the guide → Bochnia Salt Mine in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 3
Auschwitz Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940–1945)
1979 · Lesser Poland
The largest extermination camp of the Third Reich, where more than a million people were murdered, most of them Jews: the symbol of the Holocaust.
- 4
Białowieża Forest
1979 · Podlaskie
The last great primeval forest of the European plain, shared with Belarus and home to the European bison.
- 5
Historic Centre of Warsaw
1980 · Masovia
The Old Town destroyed by the Germans in 1944 and faithfully rebuilt after the war, partly with the help of Bellotto's paintings: a unique example of reconstruction.
Warsaw, the Old Town in the guide → Royal Castle in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 6
Old City of Zamość
1992 · Lublin Province
The ideal Renaissance town, designed in the 16th century by the Paduan architect Bernardo Morando.
- 7
Medieval Town of Toruń
1997 · Kuyavia-Pomerania
A Hanseatic trading town with Gothic brick churches, town hall and houses, and the ruins of the Teutonic castle.
- 8
Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork
1997 · Pomerania
The largest brick castle in the world, seat of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order from 1309.
- 9
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park
1999 · Lesser Poland
A 17th-century Mannerist calvary with dozens of chapels scattered over the hills, still a place of pilgrimage.
- 10
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica
2001 · Lower Silesia
The largest timber-framed Baroque churches in Europe, built by Protestants after the Peace of Westphalia without stone or bell tower.
Church of Peace in Świdnica in the guide → Church of Peace in Jawor in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 11
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
2003 · Lesser Poland, Subcarpathia
Six Gothic wooden churches built with the horizontal log technique, with painted ceilings and walls.
Wooden church of Dębno in the guide → Wooden church of Haczów in the guide → Lipnica Murowana in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 12
Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski
2004 · Lubusz
The great landscape park created by Prince Pückler on the Neisse river, shared with Germany.
- 13
Centennial Hall in Wrocław
2006 · Lower Silesia
The Centennial Hall designed by Max Berg in 1913, one of the first great reinforced-concrete domes in the world.
- 14
Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine
2013 · Lesser Poland, Subcarpathia
Sixteen wooden tserkvas in Poland and Ukraine, with onion domes and iconostases, built by the Ruthenian Lemko and Boyko communities.
Wooden church of Kwiatoń in the guide → Wooden churches of Turzańsk and Smolnik in the guide →UNESCO page ↗
- 15
Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and its Underground Water Management System
2017 · Silesia
The galleries and underground drainage system of one of the most important silver mines in Central Europe.
- 16
Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region
2019 · Świętokrzyskie
Neolithic and Bronze Age mines, with thousands of shafts dug to extract the striped flint used for axes.
- 17
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
2021 · Subcarpathia
The transnational site of Europe's ancient beech forests includes, in Poland, the forests of Bieszczady National Park.
Region by region
Lesser Poland
- Historic Centre of Kraków
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Auschwitz Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940–1945)
- Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park
- Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
- Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine
List of the properties inscribed by the World Heritage Committee (whc.unesco.org), with coordinates from Wikidata. Site names follow UNESCO's official English titles.